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Tourism director: hotel-occupancy tax collections steady; Zartico sample data shows visitors drive restaurant and retail spending
Summary
Director of tourism Chris Ruggia told council that hotel-occupancy tax collections were slightly higher than last year and presented Zartico mobile-device sample data showing that a majority of restaurant and retail spending observed by the dashboard was from visitors.
Chris Ruggia, Alpine’s director of tourism, briefed the council on visitor data the city obtains through a shared subscription to Zartico’s visitor dashboard and on hotel-occupancy tax collections.
Ruggia cautioned that Zartico’s numbers are a sample: “This is a sample because it requires someone…they’ve opted into an app on their phone,” he said, and the dashboard “anonymizes it.” He said Zartico correlates device-location samples with credit-card activity and that the dashboard gives a useful guideline rather than a definitive count.
Ruggia reported the city collected $1,400 more in hotel-occupancy tax this year than last. He said the increase was modest but, in his view, “a dramatic success,” given statewide reports of slower travel compared with the pandemic bump years. Zartico-derived snapshots in the presentation showed Midland–Odessa, San Antonio and Dallas–Fort Worth among the larger origin markets for observed visitors; Ruggia noted Austin sent a smaller number of visitors but accounted for a larger share of observed spending in Alpine.
On event timing and marketing, Ruggia highlighted recent and upcoming events that drew or should draw out‑of‑town visitors: Far West Comic Con (January), a wildlife weekend, and Guitar in the Big Bend (classical guitar events in Marfa and at the museum). He told council the dashboard sample indicates about 62% of restaurant spending and 59% of retail spending observed in the dashboard came from visitors — again stressing the figures are sample-based.
Council members asked about sharing the data with local business owners so shops and restaurants could decide to stay open for specific events; Ruggia said he would talk with community partners, including Alpine Community Projects, about channels to share the information.
Why it matters: Even sampled mobile-device and spending data can help staff and businesses understand visitor origins, event timing and the relative importance of overnight visitors to restaurant and retail sales in the local economy. The modest increase in hotel-occupancy tax collections was presented as a sign the city did not see a severe downturn in visitor nights compared with the prior year.
